Breaking the Playbook [COMPLETED]

Chapter 1

There's something about the smell of fresh-cut grass, the distant echo of a coach's whistle, and the rhythmic pounding of cleats on turf that feels like home. Even as I stand on the sidelines of the stadium, watching the team go through their paces, it's hard to believe that this world has always been mine. It's like living in a movie—one where I know all the lines, the scenes, and the characters by heart, but the script keeps throwing curveballs I didn't see coming.

I glance up at the jumbotron towering above the field, catching my reflection for just a moment before it shifts to a replay from last season. The girl staring back at me looks so put together, with her wavy chestnut brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and the breeze gently tugging at the loose strands that escape. But underneath it all, I'm a bundle of nerves. I always am when I'm here, standing in the shadow of my father's legacy. The green eyes that peer out from under the brim of my cap are his eyes, and I've been told more times than I can count that I have his intensity. But where his is focused on the game, mine is lost somewhere between the past and the present, tangled up in memories I can't seem to shake.

The sun is high, warming the late summer air, and I tug at the hem of my worn gray hoodie, the one that I've had since my sophomore year of college. It's oversized, hanging off my slim frame, but it's comfortable—familiar. Much like this place. The hoodie was my armor back then, back when life was simpler, before everything got so complicated.

I remember those days like they were yesterday. College was supposed to be about freedom, finding myself, and maybe, if I was lucky, a little adventure. And then there was Brooks. He was my first real taste of all those things. I met him in the most unexpected way—in the library, of all places. It was a rainy Tuesday, and I was running late for my shift as a tutor. I rushed in, clutching a stack of textbooks to my chest, and collided with him as he came around a corner. We both went down, books flying everywhere, and when I looked up, there he was—Brooks Parker, the star quarterback who had the entire campus buzzing.

I'd seen him around, of course. Everyone had. He was the kind of guy who walked into a room and owned it without even trying. He was tall, with a strong, athletic build, and those unforgettable blue eyes that could probably melt steel if he stared hard enough. His dark brown hair was always a little tousled, like he'd just rolled out of bed, but somehow, it worked for him. Handsome didn't even begin to cover it. I was just a tutor, a coach's daughter with a love for sports management and no desire to get involved with anyone on the team. But that day in the library, something shifted.

"Sorry about that," he said, flashing me a grin that sent my heart into overdrive. "I didn't see you coming."

"No, it's my fault," I managed to stammer, scrambling to gather the scattered books. "I wasn't paying attention."

Brooks helped me collect the mess, and we ended up sitting across from each other in a study nook, both too soaked to head back out into the rain. We started talking—about football, about life, about the pressures of living up to everyone's expectations. It turned out he needed help with one of his classes, and that's how our tutoring sessions began. What I didn't expect was how easily we clicked. The more time we spent together, the more I found myself looking forward to those sessions, not just because I enjoyed helping him but because I enjoyed being around him.

I told myself it was just a crush—something innocent and fleeting. But as the weeks turned into months, I realized it was so much more. Brooks was different from the other guys I'd met. He was serious, focused, and driven, but there was a softness to him that he didn't show to just anyone. I saw it in the way he talked about his family, his hopes, and his dreams. I saw it in the way he listened to me—really listened, as if what I had to say mattered. And when he smiled that rare, genuine smile of his, it felt like the sun breaking through the clouds.